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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Colorado, USA - Dec. 18-20, 2011

Oh Colorado! I wish we could stay forever and maybe someday we will - it is definitely on the list of Future Farmland!

Unfortunately, our travel here hit during week six of the Inclement Weather Experiment. The weather has beaten us down, more or less, ever since we left Oregon's Umpquah Lighthouse State Park (see postings labeled Oregon or November 2011.) I suppose I should just speak for myself, although maybe a posting like this one will finally get my Silent Partner (SP) to speak up!

If we had come to Colorado during the early weeks of the Inclement Weather Experiment (like weeks 1 or 2), then we would have undoubtedly lasted much longer. But my tolerance for freezing pipes, unreliable fresh water, waking up 6,000 times a night because the heater turns on, and cramming two people and two dogs into 19 feet day and night had me at my wit's end far before we landed in Colorado.

Thus, despite our love for the area and all its natural beauty (and the people! Wow! Healthy, happy, active people everywhere!) we were only here a few days. Of note here: Timing is everything - if we had come in week 8 of the Inclement Weather Experiment, I probably would have voted to buy a house and stay forever--but I still have the Aventura spirit in me.

During our short time we managed to stay in one County Park, Horsetooth Reservoir, (Fort Collins) one State Park, Cheyenne Mountain, (Colorado Springs) and, thankfully, no RV parks. (Pictures of the parks are in the link above.) Both parks had full hook-ups even in the dead of winter (treat!), although Horsetooth's water froze on day two in the park which created the driving force behind us leaving the cold once and for all (until Switzerland!) Both parks have easy access to miles of hiking trails although Cheyenne doesn't allow dogs on the trails.

We received fantastic service from the folks at Ed Carroll Porsche who took us in, fed the dogs cookies, and fixed up Pepper in half a day. If you ever find yourself hungry in the Fort Collins area try Cafe Mexicali -- fast, delicious, Mexican food and they make the tortillas right in front of you!

After that it was Whole Foods (ahh, such at treat, but there goes Alan's bonus check!), REI and PetsMart before stopping in at the US Forest Service--our favorite stop anytime, but especially in Fort Collins where the helpful lady first asked what we were after (unlike the Visitor's Center where they just pummeled us with brochures about museums [ick] and guided tours [double ick] without even asking where our interests lie) then provided great information, complete with maps and a recommendation to cross-country ski at Eldora outside of Boulder. (Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned Escape we did not stop to ski.)

Warm weather is what we are after (I cannot wait to sleep without the heater and I am sure my SP can't wait to leave the fresh water hose hooked up without worrying about it of freezing) so New Mexico here we come! It promises to be 60 degrees on Boxing Day (that's 12/26 for all you Americans) - time to haul out the bikini!

-K

P.S. Since Alan's last installation of the Heat Rope, Salt has functioned without fail despite the below-freezing weather. Our trouble in Horsetooth was the Park's water spigot--but my breakdown paid no heed to which device was failing, it was simply the snowflake that broke the Kloml's back.